Sustainability

What Can I Recycle?

While most commonly acceptable materials can be recycled using the blue bins on campus, there are many other items that should be recycled but are not allowed in the recycling bins.  Please utilize the resources on this page to help you locate businesses or suggestions on how to handle these materials.  If you have a question on how to recycle a material not listed on this page or found a particularly useful website for a recycling service not listed here, please contact us to let us know.

Please use the drop-down box to quickly select the material to learn more.

Recycling Databases

The following sites provide searchable databases to find locations that recycle materials not already listed below:

  • Earth 911:  Searchable database of recycling centers located near any specified address.

Batteries

Cell Phones

  • Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation-Call 2 Recycle:  Recycles old cell phones for free.  Collection site located in iCIT and at Winchester True Value at 1415 W. Main Street in Whitewater. 

  • CollectiveGood:  Recycles used electronics, including cell phones and computers, and offers money in return, which can be kept or donated to charity.

  • The Wireless Foundation:  Links to several charitable programs that utilize used cell phones for various causes.

  • ReCellular:  Collects used cell phones and PDAs, among other small electronics.  They allow customers to sell their old electronics to the company or start donation programs.

Clothing - Household Items

  • First United Methodist Church and Congregational Church in Whitewater:  The Clothes Closet provides free clothing to needy families.  Donations can be dropped off in the bin at Daniel's Sentry in Whitewater and the First United Methodist Church.

  • Goodwill:  Goodwill will accept clothing and a wide variety of other goods (with some exceptions).  Goodwill cannot resell your items, they will recycle them.  There is a Donation Center in Fort Atkinson.

Computers

  • On-Campus:  Electronic equipment including computer monitors, keyboards, peripherals, printers, and associated power and signal cords are collected and recycled by the stores staff located at the General Services building.  Please contact us for more information.

  • WasteCap Wisconsin's list of computer recyclers in Wisconsin.

  • Dell-No Computer Should Go To Waste:  They offer free recycling for all Dell branded products.  They also offer free recycling of printers, monitors, computers, toner, and ink cartridge with the purchase of the same item from Dell.  Through a partnership with the National Cristina Foundation, they also accept donations of full computer systems.

  • CollectiveGood:  Recycles used electronics, including cell phones and computers, and offers money in return, which can be kept or donated to charity.

  • D3eraSE:  Complete data destruction while allowing media to be reused.

  • GreenDisk:  A full-service company that handles almost all of your computer-related waste.

  • Back Thru the Future:  Company that recycles CDs, DVDs and hard drives.

Consumer Electronics (E-Waste)

  • For information on certain specific E-Waste categories, please visit the sections on Batteries, Cell Phones, or Computers.

  • On-Campus:  Electronic equipment including computer monitors, keyboards, peripherals, printers, and associated power and signal cords are collected and recycled by the stores staff located at the General Services building.  Please contact us for more information.

  • The e-Stewards Initiative:  An e-waste watchdog organization that monitors e-waste recycling and certifies individual programs are meeting responsible and ethical environmental standards, as well as national and international law.

  • US EPA eCycling Site:  Provides general information on eWaste at federal level and for Region 5 (Wisconsin).

  • CollectiveGood:  Recycles used electronics, including cell phones and computers, and offers money in return, which can be kept or donated to charity.

  • Buy My Tronics:  Pays you money to recycle various home electronics.

  • Electronics TakeBack Coalition:  Advocacy group that provides information on electronics recycling, including a listing of responsible recyclers in Wisconsin.

Fluorescent Light Bulbs

  • Please see the Fluorescent light recycling policy from FP&M site for more information.  Local businesses, such as Wal-Mart, that sell CFLs are required to accept them for recycling.

Food

Holiday Lights

  • Holiday LEDs:  They will recycle your old incandescent Christmas lights for free (you pay shipping) and give a 15% off coupon to purchase new LED Christmas lights.  Their site features a unique calculator to determine energy savings from switching to LED Christmas lights.

Oil

  • Waste oil is collected on campus in a 500 gallon container for pickup and recycling by receiving firm. Please contact us for more information.

Packaging Peanuts

  • On-Campus:  Polystyrene packing "peanuts" are saved by Receiving and reused in shipping items off campus.  Please contact us for more information.

  • Plastic Loose Fill Council:  Provides a searchable database of local drop-off points for polystyrene loose fill, or "packing peanuts."

Plastic Bags

  • Plastic Bag Recycling:  Use this site to find local retailers that recycle plastic bags and learn more about the various products and packaging that can be recycled as a plastic bag.

Prescription Drugs

  • The Starfish Project:  Collects some prescription medications to give to needy clinics in Nigeria.

  • Cancer and Chronic Disease Drug Repository:  Wisconsin state program that allows patients with cancer or chronic diseases to donate their unused or discontinued mediations to people with these afflictions that do not have insurance or are underinsured.

Printer Cartridges

  • RecyclePlace.org:  Send in your used inkjet, laser, and toner cartridges using their pre-paid UPS labels to be recycled.

  • A variety of websites incorporate printer cartridge recycling as a fundraiser for schools or non-profit organizations.  Search "printer cartridge recycling" in Google for a sampling of these sites.

  • Ink refills:  Rather than spending the money on a new cartridge or figuring out which company will responsibly recycle your old cartridge, you can refill your existing cartridges.  For example, many participating Walgreens stores provide this service.  Specialty stores such as Cartridge World also provide refills and refurbished cartridges.  Otherwise, you can purchase a refill kit from an office supply store and do it yourself.

Shoes

  • Nike Reuse-A-Shoe:  A recycling program that turns old tennis into "Nike Grind" material, which is used in flooring for various sports surfaces and other products, including new shoes.

  • One World Running:  Accepts shoe donations to provide to athletes in Third World Countries who cannot afford them.  Shoes that are not high-quality enough to be reused are sent to the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program.

Sporting Goods

  • Sports Gift:  Organization that accepts used sporting equipment to donate to underprivileged children around the world.

  • Play It Again Sports:  They buy, sell, and trade new and used sports equipment and fitness gear.

Tires

  • Waste tires are taken to Mallard Ridge Land Fill to be shredded and used for daily landfill cover.  Tires replaced on service and university vehicles and equipment are collected by vendor for recycling.  Please contact us for more information.

Wheelchairs

Yard Waste